The present invention relates to the technical field of heat insulation, in particular the thermal insulation of buildings.
In particular the present invention relates to a thermal insulation panel, in particular for application to a building wall.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a composite thermal insulation system (CTIS), which has a thermal insulation panel as well as an insulation plaster system.
Whereas until the 1980s in the new building and acquisition of real estate the thermal insulation of buildings was regarded as a low priority, this is increasingly gaining in importance due to rising energy prices, a heightened environmental awareness and not least due to legislative measures, such as for example the German Energy Saving Regulations (EnEV).
The insulation of new and old buildings takes place predominantly through so-called external insulation, i.e. the outsides of the building are provided with insulating materials.
Usually composite thermal insulation systems (CTIS), which are made up of an insulation material in panel form, a reinforcing layer applied externally thereto and consisting of a reinforcing mortar as well as a reinforcing fabric and a final coat, are preferably used for the thermal insulation. The insulation panels are usually based on plastics, in particular polystyrene hard foams (PS), such as for example polystyrene particle foam (EPS) or polystyrene extruded foam (XPS), or based on polyurethane hard foams (PUR). Thermal composite systems on the basis of the aforementioned plastic insulation panels have outstanding insulation properties under ideal conditions, but have the disadvantage that they form a vapor barrier and moisture from the masonry wall cannot be given off to the environment, which often leads to the formation of molds and algae. Furthermore the moisture increases the thermal conductivity of the system, and for this reason the theoretical heat transition coefficients (U values) according to EN ISO 6946 are often not achieved in practice.
Furthermore have composite thermal insulation systems (CTIS) have thicknesses from 15 to 20 cm, in order to achieve sufficient thermal insulation, which often leads to a visual deterioration of the insulated facade and a reduced incidence of light into the interior of the building through the window. For reduction of the thickness of the thermal composite systems (CTIS), recently so-called vacuum insulation panels (VIP) are increasingly being used which allow effective thermal insulation with composite thermal insulation systems having a thickness of approximately 10 cm. However, these composite thermal insulation systems also have the crucial disadvantage that they are not open to diffusion, i.e. moisture content from the masonry wall cannot be given off to the environment.
On the other hand the alternatively employed insulating materials which are open to diffusion, for example on the basis of mineral wool or natural organic fibers, such as wood, cork, hemp and reed fibers, often lack the necessary mechanical stability and structural integrity; instead these systems are flexible and not are dimensionally stable. Furthermore, these systems have a substantially lower insulating effect by comparison with plastic panels or vacuum insulation panels.
A common feature of all the composite thermal insulation systems which are based on organic polymers or contain organic natural substances is that they are combustible and in order to reduce the combustibility or flammability in general they have to be treated with special chemicals, which however in turn is often accompanied by increased environmental pollution and health risks.
Furthermore insulation plasters, which contain a binding agent as well as heat insulating additives, are also employed. As a rule such insulation plasters are open to diffusion, i.e. moisture from the masonry wall can be given off to the environment, but the insulating effect as well as the mechanical load-bearing capacity of such insulation plasters are substantially reduced by comparison with composite thermal insulation systems, which limits the use of thermal insulation plasters to a few applications.
Therefore in the prior art there has been no lack of attempts to improve the available insulation systems for thermal insulation of buildings:
Thus for example DE 10 2012 101 931 A1 relates to a facade insulation system with a sub-structure of timber frame construction, an insulation layer formed of mineral wool panels and a plaster layer, wherein on the insulation layer a support fabric exists which should give the insulation an increased mechanical load-bearing capacity.
Furthermore DE 10 2010 029 513 A1 relates to a thermal insulation powder mixture, which is processed to produce thermal insulation moldings and consists of a mixture of silicic acid and at least one fiber material.
DE 10 2011 109 661 A1 relates to an insulation material panel as well as a special arrangement of a plurality of insulation material panels on a building wall, which are connected by means of an adhesive having a capillary action for regulating moisture content.
Whilst the aforementioned systems can improve individual aspects of the conventional thermal insulation systems at least at certain points, they do not, however, enable the elimination of the basic disadvantages of the conventional thermal insulation systems
Furthermore attempts are made to improve the efficiency of thermal insulation systems by the use of special materials. In particular attempts are made to work aerogels into insulating materials or thermal material systems, in order to increase the insulating effect thereof. Aerogels are highly porous solid bodies, of which more than 90 vol.-% consist of pores. Due to the extremely high porosity aerogels are at least theoretically suitable in an outstanding manner for thermal insulation and have thermal conductivity values A in the range from 0.012 to 0.020 W/(mK). The aerogels usually used for insulation purposes consist of silicon dioxide or condensed silicic acid and are obtained from silicates by sol-gel processes. Furthermore, in addition to the good thermal insulation properties, aerogels are characterized by good sound insulation as well as non-combustibility. However, due to the high porosity aerogels have only an extremely low mechanical stability and are destroyed even at low mechanical loads.
On account of the good thermal insulation properties of, in particular, silicate-based aerogels, numerous attempts have nevertheless been made to integrate aerogels into insulating materials. Aerogels are incorporated inter alia into insulation panels made of rock wool; a corresponding product is commercially available under the trade name Aerowolle®.
Furthermore, attempts have also been made to integrate aerogels into insulation plasters, wherein however especially the mechanical workability, in particular the application of the insulation plaster by means of plastering machines, has proved difficult, since the fragile aerogel particles are usually destroyed during the application under pressure to the building wall.
DE 10 2011 119 029 A1 relates to an insulation material for producing an insulation element, wherein the insulation material contains aerogel particles and at least one inorganic or organic binding agent. The proportion of binding agent should be less than 3% by volume in relation to the total volume of the insulation material, and the insulation material also contains expanded or extruded styrene polymerizate particles.
However, also with the aforementioned systems it has not been possible hitherto to make significant improvements to the fundamental disadvantages of the use of aerogels, namely the lower mechanical load-bearing capacity and the resulting reduced durability as well as the insulating effect of the insulating materials which is substantially reduced in practice.